Germany has introduced new regulations requiring men aged 17 to 45 to obtain official permission before leaving the country for extended periods.
Effective as of January 1, 2026, this rule applies to individuals planning to stay abroad for more than three months, whether for education, employment, or long-term travel, according to Berliner Zeitung on April 3.
Those affected must secure authorization from a Bundeswehr Career Center before their departure.
This requirement is now a permanent fixture of German law, enacted through the Military Service Modernization Act. The measure was implemented with little public attention.
Previously, such permits were only mandatory during times of heightened external threat or a state of defense, such as a direct attack on federal territory. Under the new reforms, the rule applies during peacetime and normal conditions.
A spokesperson for the German Federal Ministry of Defense confirmed the introduction of the new travel authorization requirement. In a statement to journalists, the spokesperson explained that “The basis and leading idea of this rule is a reliable and credible accounting of those liable for military service in case of need.”
The travel permit system is part of a larger effort by the federal government to expand the strength of the Bundeswehr. Germany aims to increase its troop numbers from the current level of approximately 184,000 to between 255,000 and 270,000 soldiers by 2035.
As part of this initiative, all young men born in 2008 or later must complete a questionnaire regarding their willingness to serve. While the survey is mandatory for men, it remains voluntary for women.
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The fact that this change has been reported on very little, and if reported on then well after the change took effect, is very concerning.
Yeah, the lack of reporting was also mentioned in the original source that was cited in this article which is the Berliner Zeitung:
It is as if it is preparing the legal grounds for forced conscription.
At least the forced conscription bit hasn’t been hidden. The government and military were very clear all last year in saying that if there aren’t enough volunteers there will be compulsory service, and designing the law to automatically change when necessary. From there it’s not a stretch to conscript older men as well, especially those over age approx. 35 who had to participate in compulsory service before it was abolished about 15 years ago.
If you talked about that on Reddit you were often branded a russian bot. Have seen this happen on many subs.
Then logically it stands to follow that German prosecutors, judges, and buerocrats are Russian bots whenever they cite German law.
The inevitable end point of German Russophobia. We are slowly turning into Nazi Ukraine: first censorship of Russian media now travel restrictions for military age men. Next up, vans abducting men from the street and indefinitely cancelled elections?
It’s bleak. This utterly cringe continent feels like it’s dead set on suicide charging into Russia again. White Tiger was a documentary.
Germany is becoming more openly authoritative by the day.
What do they need all those soldiers for? Who the hell are they going to war with?
Who do you think? They desperately want to do Operation Barbarossa 3.0 (because 2.0 already happened, it was the NATO eastward expansion and Maidan coup).
What a surprise
The fascists turning up the heat another notch under the pot with the frog in it. Public reaction, or apparent lack of it, in Germany will be used as a test case across Europe.
Why can’t they just hire mercenary contractors like Russian and the US do?
No money. Germany and actually the whole EU are in a severe budget crisis.
The US never lets a severe budget crisis get in the way of the military. Just cut all your social services, then borrow the rest.
The US controls the world reserve currency and doesn’t have the same fiscal limitations that the EU or Germany do. Germany doesn’t control its own currency, cannot print its own money and its government cannot even freely control its own budget without fiscal restrictions. At the EU level, the ECB cannot behave like the Fed in the US because of the way the Eurozone works.
That is what Germany is doing, up to the limitations cfgaussian outlined.
What the helly? How did I miss news like that?
